Plastic spine construction for books



Dec. 1, 1964 w. MCKOWEN 1 PLASTIC SPINE CONSTRUCTION FOR BOOKS Filed Jan. 15, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 1, 1964 w. MCKOWEN PLASTIC SPINE CONSTRUCTION FOR BOOKS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 15, 1962 llilrulllilannliinn ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 1, 1964 w. MCKOWEN 3,159,411

PLASTIC SPINE CONSTRUCTION FOR BOOKS Filed Jan. 15, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet a INVENTOR- flft flm ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,159,411 PLASTIQ SPINE CONSTRUCTIGN FOR BOOKS William McKowen, Des Moines, Iowa, assignor to Meredith Publishing Company, a corporation of Iowa Filed Jan. 15, 1962, Ser. No. 166,231 2 Claims. (Cl. 281-25) This invention relates to a plastic spine construction for books, either of the permanently bound or looseleaf type.

One object of the invention is to provide a spine construction having main or outer and secondary or inner spine members which are secured together by a post-andperforation arrangement wherein a connecting post is headed and snaps through the perforation to provide a permanent connection between the spine members, the page covers being provided with a back member that is interposed between the spine members, and the pages of the book being adhesively secured to the secondary spine member whereby the expense of fabrication when compared with Smyth sewn books is substantially less, yet quality and durability of the book are not sacrificed.

Another object is to provide the secondary spine member with adhesive openings through which some of the adhesive on the edges of the pages of the book may pass and adhere to the back member of the page covers.

Still another object is to provide side flanges along the outer spine member which overlap the side edges of the inner spine member, and confine between such edges and the flanges, that portion of the back member that extends to the back edges of the covers.

A further object is to provide a modified construction in which the covers and the main spine member are molded integrally of plastic material, and the junction between them is molded in thinned-down formation to provide hinges for the covers.

Still a further object is to provide a modified construction which is less expensive to manufacture wherein extension flanges are molded along the terminal ends of the flanges at the sides of the main spine member, and page covers of cardboard or the like are connected thereto by tongue and groove joints.

An additional object is to provide my spine member arrangement for loose-leaf binders by connecting a ring binder assembly to the secondary spine member.

Another additional object is to provide a book construction that utilizes outer and inner spine members connected together by connecting posts with the pages of the book adhesively secured to the inner spine member, and page covers and a back provided for the book with the back interposed between the spine members.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my plastic spine construction for books, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as herein after more fully set forth, pointed outin my claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a book including my plastic spine construction;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view thereof on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view thereof on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the parts that make up a book construction according to my present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2 and shows the spine members disconnected in relation to each other and aligned for assembly;

3,159,411 Patented Dec. 1, 1964 FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing a modified construction;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing another modified construction;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 7 showing a further modification thereof;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8 showing a modification wherein a ring binder assembly is utilized for supporting the pages of the book instead of the adhesive connection between the pages and spine as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 8, inclusive;

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic view of FIG. 3 to show more clearly certain structural details;

FIG. 11 is a similar diagrammatic view showing the invention applied to page covers and a back of material other than plastic; and

FIG. 12 is a similar diagrammatic view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing the FIG. 11 form of invention.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate the pages of a book and in FIGS. 1 to 4 the page covers thereof are indicated at 12. The page covers 12 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7 and 10 are molded of plastic such as polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon, Delrin or the like with the usual back 14, and hinge connections for the page covers at 15 formed by thinned-down sections of the plastic.

An outer spine member 16 formed of plastic material such as polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon, Delrin or the like is molded with side flanges 17 and a plurality of projections 26 that form connecting posts and are provided with heads 22. An inner spine member 18 which may also be of plastic material is provided having perforations 24 for the connecting posts 20 and their heads 22, and these perforations are provided with counterbores 26 as shown in FIG. 5.

Between the perforations 24 are adhesive windows 28. As shown particularly in FIG. 10 these windows diverge toward the back 14 or are countersunk. The back edges of the pages 10, instead of being sewn together in the usual manner, are adhesively secured together (preferably with a hot-melt adhesive). The adhesive enters the back marginal edges of the pages as indicated at 32 and penetrates through the windows 28 to interlock with the the diverging edges thereof as indicated at 30 to form a mechanical binding connection with the inner spine member 18 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 10.

The back 14 is perforated as at 34 in FIG. 4 so that the posts 20 may extend therethrough and connectably coact with the inner spine member 18 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 12. Referring to FIG. 5 it will be noted the head 22 is slightly larger in diameter than the internal diameter of the perforation 24, and during assembly the heads are forced through the perforations until they expand into the counterbores 26, thus providing a permanent connection. The flanges 17 protect the portions of the back 14 that extend over the side edges of the inner spine member 18 to the hinge connections 15 and give a neatly finished appearance to the binding. As shown in FIG. 6 the connecting posts indicated 20 may be formed on the inner spine member 18 while the perforations 24 and their counterbores 26 may be formed in the outer spine member 16.

In place of the page covers 12 of the previous figures, page covers 36 as shown in FIG. 7 may be molded integrally with the outer spine member indicated in this figure as 16 and the flanges as 17 Thinned-down or groove-like formations 15 are also provided in this type of construction to serve as hinge connections. This type of hinge connection is particularly suitable when the spine 16 and the page covers 36 are formed of polypropylene. If the first flexing of the hinge is made as soon as the article comes from the mold and while it is still Warm,

it is possible to flex the hinge over a wider temperature range without having it crack. Flexing of the hinge while it is still warm from the mold orients the molecules therein Without inducing undue stresses and such orientation results-inf an improvement in the strength of the hinge. If the hinge is not flexed for'the first time until a temperature saw/me brittleness temperature of polypropylene is attained, the'hinge will crack and the part will be useless, V

In some books the construction illustrated in FIG. 7 would be relatively expensive. The cost may be somewhat reduced by the construction shown in FIG. 8 Where, instead of the page'covers 36, flange extensions 36 are provided which form extensions of the flanges 17 Page covers 40 of cardboard or the like may then be provided and adhesively connected by tongue and groove connections 42 to the terminal edges of theflange extensions 36 this 'caseis indicated as 44 and the inner spine member as 46. A ring binder assembly '48 is connected as by,

rivets or the like 60 to the inner spine member 46-, and the outer spine member 44 is provided with connecting posts 55- having heads 56 extendable through perforations 58 of the member 46. The heads are slightly larger than the perforations whereby they require forcing to effect connection with the inner spine member 46, and are thereafter permanently connected thereto. Cardboard page'covers 50 are illustrated having flexible covering material 52 that extends between the members 44 and 46 for connecting the covers 50 to the spine assembly 44-46. In this case the perforations 58 need not be counterbored as the heads 56 do not interfere with the pages of the book but extend into space provided within a back 66 between the spine members 16 and 18 and hinge connections at 15 The windows 28 need not have diverging edges as in FIG. 10 because the adhesive 30 will adhere to the non-plastic'back 66 whereas satisfactory adherence to a plastic back 14 such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 10 isunattainable' with most present day adhesives obtainable at a cost which is reasonable for book binding purposes. As shown in FIG; 12, the back 66 would be perforated as at 34 for the connecting posts 20 as in the type-of construction shown in FIG. 2.

From the foregoing specification it will be obvious that I have provided a book construction, involving aplastic spine assembly that makes possible the use of adhesive as a means for connecting the pages of the book together and to the spine. This construction'eliminates the expense of sewn books and of the necessity of thin ing the binding. My construction eliminates much equipment and expense, and also eliminates the necessity of having binding done outside orshipped to and from a binding source when the printer does not have conventional bookbinding equipment. Plastics can be molded to close tolerances and insure a permanent connection once the heads 22 have been forced through the perforations 24 and into the counterbores 26.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my plastic spine construction for books without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may reasonably be included within their scope.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a spine construction for books, an outer spine member formed of plastic material and having integral headed connecting posts, an inner spine member having perforations to receive said posts, said perforations being slightly smaller than the heads of said posts to require 1 forcing therethrough wherebya permanent connection of said spine members to each other is effected during assembly, book pages adhesively secured to said inner spine member, page covers having a back member interposed between said spine members and adhesively secured to said inner spine member, said outer spine member having flanges along. its sideedges to overlap the side edges of said inner spine member and confining said back between said edges and said flanges.

2. In a spine construction for books, an outer spine member having integral headed connecting posts, an inner spine member having perforations to receive said posts, said perforations being slightly smaller than the heads of said posts to require forcing therethrough whereby a permanent connection of said spine members to each other is elfected during assembly, book pages adhesively secured to said inner spine membenrpage covers having flexible covers thereon and connecting the page covers together, the connecting portion forming a back member interposed between said spine membersand adhesively secured to said inner spine member, said outer spine memher having flanges along its side edges'to overlap the side signatures which must be sewn individually to permit a a book to open flat. My constructionalso eliminates a considerable amount of machinery necessary in connection with conventional book bindings, the equipment for which is fantastically expensive. The endproduct in book bind edges of said inner spinemember and confine said back between said edges and said flanges.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 175,707 I Hoyt et al. Apr. 4, 1876 254,844 'Russ Mar. 14, 1882 406,476 Ries July 9, 1889 1,804,392 Alger et'al. May 12, 1931 2,017,220 Schade Oct.- 15, 1935 2,177,879 Schade Oct. 31, 1939 2,338,891 Auburn L' Ian. 11, 1944 2,538,396 Sutin Jan. 16, 1951 2,577,568 De Florez et al Dec. 4, 1951 2,610,879 Pope Sept. 16, 1952 2,632,657 Schade Mar; 24, 1953 2,699,960 Callery Jan. 18, 1955 Stinson Feb. 6, 1962 

2. IN A SPINE CONSTRUCTION FOR BOOKS, AN OUTER SPINE MEMBER HAVING INTEGRAL HEADED CONNECTING POSTS, AN INNER SPINE MEMBER HAVING PERFORATIONS TO RECEIVE SAID POSTS, SAID PERFORATIONS BEING SLIGHTLY SMALLER THAN THE HEADS OF SAID POSTS TO REQUIRE FORCING THERETHROUGH WHEREBY A PERMANENT CONNECTION OF SAID SPINE MEMBERS TO EACH OTHER IS EFFECTED DURING ASSEMBLY, BOOK PAGES ADHESIVELY SECURED TO SAID INNER SPINE MEMBER, PAGE COVERS HAVING FLEXIBLE COVERS THEREON AND CONNECTING THE PAGE COVERS TOGETHER, THE CONNECTING PORTION FORMING A BACK MEMBER INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID SPINE MEMBERS AND ADHESIVELY SECURED TO SAID INNER SPINE MEMBER, SAID OUTER SPINE MEMBER HAVING FLANGES ALONG ITS SIDE EDGES TO OVERLAP THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID INNER SPINE MEMBER AND CONFINE SAID BACK BETWEEN SAID EDGES AND SAID FLANGES. 